Bengal STF arrests Siliguri man from Delhi over ISI-linked FICN network
Times of India | 21 August 2026
Kolkata’Jalpaiguri: Bengal Police’s Special Task Force (STF) has arrested another man from the Dinhata module for his alleged link with ISI-sponsored FICN network. Pradipta Basu (35) was picked up from Delhi and brought to Cooch Behar on transit remand. A Dinhata court on Thursday sent Basu to STF custody for eight days.
STF sources said Basu, who hails from Siliguri, allegedly has links with three persons earlier arrested from Cooch Behar in the case. The trio is accused of being part of a network that used Indian SIM cards to activate WhatsApp accounts for individuals in Pakistan.
Sources said a laptop and a phone with a Bangladeshi SIM were found from Basu’s possession.
“Pradipta Basu was in Delhi, playing the part of expanding the illicit FICN network. He was not aware of his accomplices being arrested in Bengal. He is a key player in the FICN network that sponsored ISI’s communication channels in Nepal and Bangladesh,” said an STF officer.
Cops said Basu ran a money exchange business in Siliguri as a cover for his covert activities. Investigators also reportedly found information suggesting that Basu was in contact with several individuals currently lodged in Bangladesh prisons.
Basu is the 13th person to be arrested by Bengal STF in the past one month, during which the agency has disbanded four separate modules working for or at the instigation of ISI.
Meanwhile, Fazle Rabbi, an alleged Trinamool worker, was arrested by Bengal STF from Islampur in North Dinajpur on similar charges. Rabbi is the brother of prominent TMC neta and block president Zakir Hossain. This is the fifth arrest in the ISI-backed FICN module.